Harshit Jawanda progresses in Irish Open qualifying

Harshit Jawanda

18-year-old rising Indian squash star Harshit Jawanda got off to a great start at the PSA $5, 000 Irish Open 2016 in Dublin on Monday as she won her first round of qualifying. Jawanda, who is the reigning U-19 national girls’ champion, needed just 30 minutes to get past 17-year-old local girl Hannah Craig, 10-12, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8.

The 208th ranked Indian will next face the young Swiss player Nadia Pfister, who is placed 83 ranking spots above her.

Mahesh Mangaonkar is the only other Indian playing at this event. The eighth seed will begin his campaign on Wednesday against Irish wildcard Arthur Gaskin.

Ravi Dixit bows out of Malaysian Tour 3rd leg

Meanwhile, Ravi Dixit’s challenge came to an end at the $ 10, 000 3rd Leg PSA Malaysian Squash Tour held in Bukit Jalil as he crashed out in the second round of qualifying. Dixit won his opening round with an 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4 victory over fourth seed Muhammad Hannan of Malaysia.

But he came up short against Korea’s Ko Youngjo, 6-11, 9-11, 5-11.